Xinhua recently reported that the latest research results that the Ministry of Water Resources released showed that only 86 percent of the drinking water sources met the national water quality standards. The research was based on a sampling of 4,555 drinking water sources nationwide. Among these sources, lakes suffered the severest quality issues, with merely 65 percent meeting the national standard. Most of the low-quality underground sources are located north of the Yangtze River, while most of the above-ground ones are near the highly industrialized pollution areas. Some provincial governments have still not approved many of the water protection regulations. The main cause of this problem is the conflict of interest between the ones to be regulated and the beneficiaries (of the regulations), especially for the water sources that cross borders. Currently China’s per capita water resources are only a quarter of the global average. The northern part of China suffers a very severe water shortage.
Source: Xinhua, November 19, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-11/19/c_1113313280.htm